BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) Upgraded at The Goldman Sachs Group

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) was upgraded by stock analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $87.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $81.00. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 12.71% from the company’s previous close.

BJ has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $70.00 price target (down previously from $73.00) on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $84.00 to $80.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.53.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:BJ opened at $77.19 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.26 billion, a PE ratio of 19.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. BJ’s Wholesale Club has a twelve month low of $60.33 and a twelve month high of $78.97. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.13.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $5.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a net margin of 2.64% and a return on equity of 40.84%. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that BJ’s Wholesale Club will post 3.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Wholesale Club

In other news, Director Christopher J. Baldwin sold 73,062 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.95, for a total transaction of $5,402,934.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 173,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,815,091.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ’s Wholesale Club

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 45.3% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club in the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Fortis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. 98.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About BJ’s Wholesale Club

BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates warehouse clubs on the eastern half of the United States. It provides groceries, general merchandise, gasoline and other ancillary services, coupon books, and promotions. The company sells its products through the websites BJs.com, BerkleyJensen.com, and Wellsleyfarms.com, as well as the mobile app.